The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 9

Melty

Move over, Filo, there’s a new loli in town and her name is Melty. That’s right, another loli has been introduced into The Rising of the Shield Hero, but will she end up joining Naofumi and his party? My early prediction is no because she doesn’t seem to bring anything to the table.

However, just because she probably won’t join the Shield Hero’s party doesn’t mean she’ll be an insignificant character moving forward. For starters, she and Filo quickly became best friends because Melty likes Filolials and Filo likes the food Melty gives her.

But, more importantly, Melty is kind of a big deal in the Kingdom of Melromarc, which is something I’ll dedicate an entire section to later on. For now, let’s just say that because of her family and status she has an exceptional amount of influence.

Filo and Melty

But, at this point you may be thinking, “doesn’t the fact that Melty has an exceptional amount of influence mean she has something to contribute to Naofumi’s party?” Yes, it does, but she doesn’t need to be a member of his party in order to contribute to its success.

Whether she’s a party member or not has no effect on her ability to help out her new friends whenever they’re in need. Further, by not joining their party, it could be argued that she’s more helpful because she retains her influence in the kingdom.

And, since Melty is just a regular, human child, she can’t exactly be helpful to Naofumi’s party when it comes to combat, which is one of the most important aspects of party members as far as he’s concerned. But, who knows, maybe Melty is a skilled mage.

The Church

After arriving in the capitol, Filo walks Melty home while Naofumi and Raphtalia head to the local church to procure holy water with which to treat Raphtalia’s curse. And, within the church we may have just met our next series antagonist, because the church is always an antagonist in anime.

Naofumi and Raphtalia are met by the pope when they enter the church, and he agrees to sell them the highest grade of holy water in exchange for a single gold coin. While Raphtalia seems to think this is a rip-off, it actually sounds like a pretty good deal to me considering the circumstances.

But, of course, the first vial of holy water that was brought out to Naofumi was of a low quality. While the pope acts like this was the doing of his subordinate, it seemed pretty obvious that the plan to deceive Naofumi like this was his idea from the start.

If he had noticed the quality of the holy water before Naofumi and instructed it to be taken back, then I might think differently. But, the fact that Naofumi had to appraise the water and then speak up about its quality shows that the pope was going to let this deception slide.

Naofumi and Raphtalia in the church

Though, just because the pope was going to intentionally deceive Naofumi doesn’t mean he’s going to be the next antagonist of the series. After all, his church is located in the capitol city of the Melromarc Kingdom, and the royal family has essentially branded Naofumi a traitor.

Instead, what makes me think the pope is going to be the next antagonist is his clear dislike for Naofumi despite helping him by selling the holy water. And, someone needs to take the King and Myne’s place as the antagonist.

Motoyasu is Blasting Off Again!

I know I’ve made this comparison in the past, but Motoyasu and Myne are essentially Team Rocket from Pokémon. Myne is Jessie and Motoyasu is James. All they’re missing is a talking cat and their trio would be complete.

But, that’s what I hate about them as antagonists, and this extends to the king as well. These are antagonists simply for the sake of being antagonists, with the slight exception of Motoyasu. Motoyasu is just an antagonist because he’s too stupid to realize that he’s an antagonist.

I won’t lie, I’m enjoying Shield Hero despite its flaws, but I really wish there was an actual antagonist that mattered, and I think the church may be the answer. What if the secret organization we’ve seen a few times now is actually connected to the church?

Wouldn’t that be better than having Myne as the antagonist for the remainder of the series? Other than her role at the very beginning of the series to make Naofumi look bad, I don’t see how she’s contributed to the story since.

And, the king does even less as an antagonist than Myne. At least Myne’s reason for being an antagonist seems to be that she wants to make Motoyasu look better by making Naofumi look bad. The king just does whatever Myne wants him to, and as we learn later on, she’s not even his favorite daughter.

But, anyway, back to Motoyasu being nothing more than a comedic antagonist like Team Rocket. He wore groin armor this time around when confronting Naofumi and still got hurt when Filo kicked him again. If that isn’t the sign of a throwaway character I don’t know what is.

Crown Princess

And, now we get to the “big reveal” about Melty at the end of the episode. She’s actually the crown princess of the Kingdom of Melromarc, meaning she’s first heir in line for the throne. That’s right, the next Queen of Melromarc is now friends with Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo.

But, why is she next in line for the throne instead of her older sister, Myne? Simply put, Myne doesn’t have the disposition fit for a Queen. She’s quick to anger and has various child-like tendencies despite her age.

However, what’s interesting to me about this is that despite refusing to name her crown princess, Myne’s father, the king, very much seems to share his daughter’s views. I mentioned that Myne wasn’t the king’s favorite daughter, but perhaps that isn’t quite right.

While Melty has been acknowledged as a better heir to the throne, this may not have fully been the king’s decision. We know the king gives everything to his eldest daughter that she asks for, so it seems strange that he would refuse to hand over his position to her.

But, the answer to this puzzling circumstance may lie in something Melty says to her sister. She threatens to tell their mother of what Myne has been doing, terrorizing the citizens and using one of the heroes for her own pleasure.

The fact that this threat is enough to cause Myne to retreat temporarily shows just how much power the queen of Melromarc wields. It seems entirely possible that while the king is the face of the royal family, the queen is actually the one in power behind the scenes and chose Melty to succeed the throne.

We also haven’t met the queen yet, so it will be interesting to see her views of the Shield Hero.

Conclusion

What did you think of this week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero? Do you think Melty is going to join Naofumi’s party despite being the crown princess? Do you think the church, and pope specifically, is going to be the next antagonist? Let me know in the comments.

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2 Replies to “The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 9”

It really made no sense for him completely shut down the conversation after “learning” Melty’s identity. He should already be 95% convinced when she stopped Myne at the fight, she literally called her sister. Just simply Melty confirming she is indeed a princess shouldn’t be that big of a deal for him, he should have been prepared for that when he decided to find a place to talk. I understand why he hates the royalty, but his action is so illogical.

Also, he just ran away from a single random soldier for no reason lol Just so he could run into Myne and allow Melty to save him.
The writing is surely getting worse episode by episode
But the worst is undoubtedly the hero of the spear because in ep. 1, the other 3 heroes all seem smart and picked up on the other hand, takes a 180 ° turn in episode 2, now acts as a cartoon-silly-failure-arrogant-asshole boy who can not even stop for 1 second to think.

Simply, all around a badly written (shallow) character that barely counts as a character, if something is a poorly written plot device whose main purpose is to cause problems.

I can understand why he wouldn’t want to associate with Melty. After all, he’s been lied to and cheated by the other members of the royal family he’s met so far, so why would he believe she’s any different? As far as he’s concerned, her helping him out is just her way of getting him to lower his guard.

But, I completely agree with everything else you’ve said. This series has been going down hill, and that’s why I’d really like for an actual antagonist to be introduced. Then maybe the focus can shift away from Motoyasu and Myne.